Zen: from Baby to How to Meditate
Hey hey, my name is Thersa Matsuura, author of The Book of Japanese Folklore and podcaster here at Uncanny Japan, my little space where I tell you about the more obscure nooks and crannies of Japanese culture.
Today’s show is part of a really fun mini-series that has been made possible thanks to our sponsor Explore Worldwide, who offer small group tours with local tour leaders. I really think you’re going to like them.
In today’s episode, I’ll be taking you on a journey that involves supernatural balance, a touch of kung fu fighting, cringe worthy acts of concentration, a lucky toy that heals disease and helps you achieve your dreams, and will end delightfully in a moment of sheer, utter, unadulterated, and quite literal Zen.
Let’s start with a baby. A mysterious baby born in southern India, in the 5th or 6th centuries, as either a prince, a poor hunter, or into the warrior caste. He was a studious child who was drawn to the Buddha’s teachings. Let’s call him Bodhidharma.
The little Bodhidharma grew up and set off to travel to China to teach what he had learned. At this time in history, Buddhism there were a lot of fancy-schmancy rituals and scholarship-type stuff. Bodhidharma was somewhat of a rebel. He was into meditating, and focusing the mind. Insight over theoretical knowledge was more his vibe.
It’s interesting to note that in almost all the depictions of him during this time he looks grumpy, has a thick dark beard and blue eyes. There are even some ancient Chinese texts that call him “The Blue-Eyed Barbarian.” But it might be more correct to think barbarian means foreigner, not some rogue mad man.
So, Bodhidharma was a real person, but as with many great historical people, parts of his life and adventures morphed into fantastic stories and myth and wonder. As you’ll see in a second.
After entering China, Bodhidharma met with the Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu was a devout Buddhist and extremely proud of all the merit he was building up. He bragged about things like constructing this temple and that temple, ordaining a bunch of monks, and spending hours copying sutras, Buddhist prayers. He asked this blue-eyed, bushy bearded barbarian: “Bodhidharma what have YOU done?” Bodhidharma calmly replied, “Nothing whatsoever.” The point he was probably trying to cheekily make is that you can’t just gain enlightenment by building a temple and doing all this external stuff.
The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Emperor Wu. He was shocked by the reply and furious, too. Bodhidharma didn’t stick around to see what a powerful angry Chinese emperor could do. He quickly set off again. He reached the Yangzi River and found there was no way to cross. That didn’t stop Bodhidharma, though. He plucked up a reed, dropped it in the water and stepped on it. You’ll find quite a few beautiful pieces of art of the Bodhidharma crossing the river balancing gracefully on a thin reed.
He then retreated into a secluded cave that just happened to be near the famous Shaolin Temple. Evidently at the time, the Shoalin monks weren’t the incredible warriors that we know they are today. They were kinda weaklings. Bodhidharma took care of that. Some stories say he taught them martial arts, others that he just taught them important breathing exercises to increase and use their energy or qi or ki. Qigong in Chinese, Kiko in Japanese.
He then returned to his cave where he sat in meditation for nine years. He sat for so long that his legs fell off. Not kidding. It happened. And that’s not all. He grew frustrated that whenever he meditated he got sleepy, so in a fit of something — I hope not rage because he’s been meditating for a very long time and I’d like to think he was more chill than that — but any way he tore off (or cut off) his eyelids so he couldn’t sleep and tossed them aside. Where they proceeded to grow into the first tea plants. Which, conveniently enough, is something you drink when you want to stay awake.
What Bodhidharma is mostly known for isn’t being legless, or eyelid-less, or teaching martial arts, or breathing techniques to the Shoalin monks. No. Bodhidharma is the one whose teachings laid the groundwork for Chan in Chinese, or you might know it better in Japanese, Zen.
While most agree Bodhidharma himself never made it as far as Japan, his teachings did. It’s also interesting to note here, that if you look down through history, Buddhism as it came from India and was practiced in China most likely got influenced from Chinese Taoism which formed what is what we know as Zen today. Taoism believes in things like wu wei (effortless action), harmony with nature, and deep meditative practices. Which tracks.
Anyway, before we get to the cool Zen stuff in Japan, what happened to the Bodhidharma? It’s a mystery! Some say he just disappeared. Some that he returned to India. One Japanese Buddhist sect called Tendai believes he actually traveled to Japan and met Prince Shotoku Taishi, who loved Buddhism himself.
But my favorite story is the one that says he died in China and was buried in a tomb near Mount Song. However, some time after this, a Chinese official claimed to have seen him alive and walking in the mountains. This official asked where he was going and he said back to India.
One thing that impressed this encounter so clearly in the official’s mind was that Bodhidharma was carrying a single sandal, a very strange thing to be doing. After telling his tale to others, they decided to open Bodhidharma’s tomb, because, well, it just couldn’t be, could it? But it was! The tomb was completely empty except for a single sandal!
This all happened around 530 CE. Buddhism didn’t make it to Japan until the late 12th to early 13th centuries. Hundreds of years later.
What happened is pretty much Japanese monks traveled to China to study Buddhism and brought what they learned home. Eisai (1141-1215) was the first to bring these Chan practices to Japan. He founded a sect of Zen called Rinzai in 1191. When you think Rinzai, think disciplined meditation. You sometimes see a monk whacking someone on the shoulder with a stick. This isn’t as scary as it sounds. It’s just a way to snap you back to attention or into enlightenment. Because Rinzai believes in sudden enlightenment. Rinzai also uses the koan, which are those seemingly meaningless phrases that shake you from your normal way of thinking. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Does a dog have Buddha nature? Were you suddenly shaken into enlightenment? If not, let’s talk about Dōgen.
Dōgen (1200-1253), on the other hand, also studied in China and he returned and started the Sōtō school in 1227. Sōtō school concentrates on sitting and a slower approach to enlightenment. I guess you could call it the mellower of the two. In the Sōtō sect you meditate facing a wall, while in Rinzai you face the room.
Speaking of meditation, if you’re enjoying this episode, Explore’s Upgraded — Discover Japan 12-day tour that starts in Tokyo goes to Kamakura where your small group can experience your own private Zazen (or sitting meditation) led by a real monk. You’ll also visit Mount Fuji, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kyoto, doing things like visiting Peace Park, taking part in a traditional tea ceremony and watching real Geisha and Maiko dance. Again, these are small groups with local tour leaders. If you want to see more details, visit the Uncannyjapan.com website and I’ll have an Explore Worldwide link on the top of the sidebar that leads you directly to this particular tour. It’ll be a daruma! with Explore’s logo, so easy to find.
Now, Bodhidharma is called Daruma in Japanese. Does that ring a bell? You may have seen a daruma doll before. These are usually round red, white, and black dolls with no limbs (because reasons). Some are weighted on the bottom so they can be knocked over and they’ll just roll back up to their upright position. A kind of tumbler doll. This perfectly reflects a Japanese proverb: Nanakorobi yaoki. Fall down seven times, get up eight. Which is a very nice reminder for resilience. Don’t you think?
Daruma’s image as a toy, doll, or even coloring pages was used in ancient Japan as a talisman against smallpox. For one, the getting up after being knocked down is what you want to happen after getting sick. And two, the color red was, depending on the time, a color that warded off disease or appeased the smallpox deity, so that it would leave and you’d recover.
After vaccines were introduced in the late 1800s and smallpox disappeared, the daruma dolls remained as a symbol of good luck. You can find them all over Japan even today and they’re a really fun idea. They’re sold with both eyes wide and all white (no eyelids, right?). After you get one, you color in the pupil of the doll’s left eye and make a wish. You then put up your lucky daruma to watch over and root for you until you work real hard with lots of resilience, falling down and getting up, and once you achieve your goal, you thank the daruma by painting in the other pupil. They’re used a lot for businesses, marriages, and politics, but since they come in all sizes, they can be used as personal good luck talismans, too.
Which brings me to what Daruma was all about all along. Meditating. As someone who discovered a small zendo in Omaha, Nebraska back in the mid eighties and sat zazen (sitting meditation) for years until I came to Japan, I can tell you, he was on to something.
Let’s do a little walk through of how it usually goes.
You sit in either cross legged in a half lotus or full lotus, or on your folded legs in what in Japanese is called seiza. A zafu or small pillow can be used to make this more comfortable. It’s traditional to sit on the ground, but sitting properly in a chair is fine, too. You want to be in a stable and relaxed posture. And wakeful. You don’t want to be sleepy. That’s what eyelid tea is for, or regular green tea if that’s not available.
Keep your back straight, chin slightly tucked, breath through your nose, and press your tongue gently against the upper palate of your mouth. You keep your eyes open and gazing at a place around three feet in front of you.
Hold your hands in front of you, palms up, with your dominant hand on the bottom, kind of cupping the other. Your thumbs should lightly touch. I was always told to pretend you’re gently holding an egg. Now breathe and pay attention to the sensation of breathing. Simple, right? Not.
You’ll find your thoughts intruding, wandering, and suddenly you’ll have itches everywhere and magnified a thousand times. Don’t get frustrated or angry. Just bring your attention back to your breath. Over and over again. Now do this everyday for the rest of your life. You’ll have good days and bad days, but overtime you’ll, I don’t know how to describe it, but when I was meditating daily and was at my how can I saw it, best? It was like there was this stillness inside and all around me. I was very aware of everything, but all those emotions and feelings and thoughts that are always sneaking up and getting in the way were gone or at a distance. It felt like how I imagine someone who is moving in a higher dimension would feel. Like you time to react to things and also that reaction is going to be chill. You feel in control of yourself and at the same time you’ll start noticing and be incredibly awed and touched deeply by the synchronicities of everything that is happening around you. You notice more and it’s meaningful.
Okay, personal experiences may vary, but doing this episode reminds me I should get back to that place, or at least start sitting zazen again for 30 to 40 minutes a day. What a worthwhile way to start the year. And if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Just start again the next day. We need to be gentle with ourselves so we can be gentle with others. And don’t worry, your legs won’t fall off!
As Dogen so famously said: “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things.“
Thank you all for listening and I’ll talk to you again in two weeks. Stay safe and well, breathe in and breathe out.
Bye bye
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